Since the start of Syria's war in 2011, several diplomatic initiatives have stumbled over the future of President Bashar al-Assad. Here is a recap:

- End of Arab solutions - In January 2012, two months after an initial bid to end the violence, leading Arab diplomats adopt a fresh plan that would transfer power from Assad to a coalition cabinet. The Damascus government rejects the proposal and vows to crush rebel movements.

U.S. President Donald Trump broke with decades of international consensus this week when he said a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may not be the only answer.

Donald Trump held a joint news conference Wednesday with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at which the U.S. president backed away from Washington's quest for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

Here are key quotes from both leaders:

As Syria's war approaches its seventh year, two new rounds of talks on resolving the conflict are scheduled to take place in Astana and Geneva.

New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco: the cities are many and so are the anti-Trump protests.

Since the US president's inauguration, daily life in multiple metropolitan centers has been carried out with the knowledge that at any moment -- and on weekends in particular -- demonstrations are unfurling in the streets below.

President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries has put a spotlight on those immigrant communities across the country.

The U.S. has taken in nearly 270,000 immigrants and refugees from the affected countries since 2007, according to an analysis of U.S. State Department data by The Associated Press.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have dealt another blow to the faltering Syrian rebel movement, regaining control of a strategic area near Damascus at the weekend.

The capture of the Wadi Barada area is another setback for rebels after the loss of the second city of Aleppo in December, the biggest blow to the opposition since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

Fresh protests are expected at U.S. airports Sunday, following President Donald Trump's order to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on travelers from seven mostly Muslim countries.

When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 there were 16 major walls protecting borders around the world. In 2016 that number had grown to 66, according to researcher Elisabeth Vallet of the University of Quebec.

Six years after Hosni Mubarak was forced from power, the activists behind Egypt's 2011 uprising are facing a new crackdown and struggling to see much reason for hope.

Rights groups accuse President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of cracking down on freedoms won during the revolt, with many activists now facing prison, asset freezes and travel bans.